Author: Moyan Chen

From Santiago to Columbus

It’s been a few days after our trip in Santiago. I am trying to catch up with the school work and escaping from the easiness of spring break. But from time to time I still recall our days back in Santiago. I think the days we spent in Santiago have become my most memorable ones in group trip. First of all, we traveled in a huge group but we didn’t ever put us in a dangerous or awkward situation. We all came back safe and sound. On the other hand, we always helped each other in a foreign country so we have developed strong bonds with other students. It is kind of interesting to see everybody again in Knowlton since the memories we shared in Santiago are so impressive. We all feel like we experienced the city of Santiago as locals.

Overall I think we all learnt many stuff in Chile both academically and culturally. From Park de la Infancia to Bicentenario Park,  as a Landscape Architecture student I get to learn many interesting elements that Chilean architects are concentrating on like the use of bright colors and focus on materiality. There are all good to know.

Last but not the least I want to thank everyone in our group because we are a good team!

Goodbye Santiago!

Vega Central

Today we went to the market as our last spot before departure from Santiago. The market is crowed with people from all around the world. At the market we see different kinds of fruits and some of them are in cool colors I have never seen. The market is pretty similar to the one we have in my home town, but much cooler.At noon we tried the Peruvian style sushi which was super good too.

Overall in think Santiago is a beautiful place with mixture of South American and Spanish colonial culture so at many spots you might feel like your are in Europe instead of South America but in some place you suddenly realize you are still in the city of Santiago.

We will be soon going back to Columbus but I will never forget the adventure in Santiago. I will remember the street trees-sycamore which provide nice shade when we waked along Ave. Providencia. I will miss the old-fahsioned drink(peach and wheat) at street corner. I will miss the dogs as our companion during our walks. I think this city is such a fusion of different experiences. The point is that you can see everything in the city of Santiago instead of going to different cities to experience different ideas and cultures, which I think it’s cool, too. What’s more, I will miss passionate Chilean who helped us during this trip!

Free Day- Tour in the City and Cultural Centers

Starting with a fantastic brunch, we started our city tour. We found a nice spot at the street corner. The city of Santiago becomes more interesting when you started to stop a little while and look at the people passing by. The students who just left from schools are chatting on the curbs. The older people are strolling by then busy streets. In the middle of the road there is a guy busking as the signal turns red. Far away from your position, there is a man carrying a giant ice cream box on his shoulder with loud cries of selling. Suddenly you realized somehow it is the culture shapes the city and what you see is really the reflection of Chile history.

Coffe Cup in Brunch Restaurant

Corporación Cultural Matucana 100

Later we went to the culture centers near Quinta Normal Park. The culture centers are having seldom exhibition while the architecture itself is good enough to visit. Again many murals can be found in this art district. Corporación Cultural Matucana 100 is mainly composed by a central theater. The exterior of this theater is a historical remnant with red bricks. Inside we see the wood structures holding high ceilings. Then you can explore more on the lower level. There are some mini exhibitions going on there.

Murals, Colors and More Food!

Valpariso is a magic place. People here are nice. The murals are beautiful. Even dogs here look lazier than anywhere else, stretching and sleeping everywhere on the ground. The walls in Valparaiso are painted into different popped colors. Great amount use of bright colors light pure yellow and blue is reasonable and cool. One of the most features of Valparaiso attracts me is that the combination of the sinuous and wide, straight streets which create distinguished feelings when people travel through the town. Meanwhile, I noticed many interesting details of this town from the structure of architectures. This base structure of a wooden lofted house is pretty interesting since it is featured with its pointed foundation.

Pointed base

The spheres of Roadblock also remind me many spheres pieces we saw in Santiago downtown.

Painting on the Roadblock

Creative artists here transformed this mounted town to a paradise for tourists.

At night we went to Baco and we have a nice dinner there. The place is pretty popular even it’s a Wednesday night. The atmosphere was buoyant and people were chatting and having fun. As usual we ordered fish and steak. This time we also had the salmon salad which was made by raw salmon and lettuce. It was also good!

Exploring the Architectures in Schools

If I have to pick highlights in these two days’ travel, I would definitely say the schools we visited. First of all I think the Architecture Graduate school of University Adolfo Ibanez impressed me by its central plaza. The plaza was occupied by many students who were chatting and circulating around. Such scenery is actually not common back in U.S. I think what I see in U.S. most is that people do their individual’s work more and seldom make connection with others directly. Despite many of them are still greeting each other and have common chat. I am not judging or being critical about this since I think it is all about cultural difference. In the undergrads school of the same university,  we see many open public spaces like the ones we had at Big Stairs in Knowlton( though it’s indoor) under circumstances. I think it’s pretty interesting.

Quick Sketch looking at the Central Gathering Space


And a day after, we went to the famous innovation center in PUC. The architecture itself from exterior is fascinated. To go further you might notice the structure seems to be in a weird but meaningful proportion which I think it’s pretty interesting. I also love the details inside of the building and I did a couple of sketches.

Exterior-Innovation Center

Furniture Pieces inside Innovation Center

 

2nd Day Wrap Up

On the second day of our trip, we mainly went to Plaza de Armas and analyzed Santiago city street. The plaza was crowed with locals and pretty occupied. We did some basic sketches of the plan and section of it and then we headed off to the street we were assigned. It is a Sunday so the street are full of people who are hanging out with their friends and families. Along our group walking we got these cute homeless dogs following, or sleeping around  us. It is just astonishing to see the homeless dogs are actually grow very well and being friendly to people. Besides those what impressed me most is how patient Chilean can be. We did a couple of lunches by our selves and I don’t know Spanish much. But when we tried to talk or explained something that they don’t understand at first, they were pretty parient and tried their best to get to know what we tried to say. Even though sometimes we still got misunderstandings but we are not discouraged. At Plaza de Armas  there was a Chilean lady asked me what we were doing(since we had a couple of people doing sketch there) and she was nice and introduced me a little bit of Chili culture. We had a special experience today and I am looking forward to see more about Santiago!

Our upcoming trip!

Waiting for our flight to Dallas at CMH, we are ready to go!


I m really excited about this trip as we are going to studying many pieces of architectures and landscapes. Also we are traveling in a huge group. Many concerns about this trip due to the number of people are thought about during the little talks right now. I am thinking if our trip would be time efficient enough for sightseeing or else since we might spent much time on lines and walking along the street also making sure that we are not losing anyone!

But overall I think it is gonna be a fun trip because we have learned a lot about the culture and city during class. Some basic Spanish in language were also taught in class so at least we won’t be lost in Santiago! Among those iternary I would think about the free day arrangement most since We need to schedule on our own. I am thinking about going to the beach or hiking on the hills but haven’t decided. But definitely I would try some tasty Chilean food in local Santiago. Street drinks had been mentioned many times when I read a tour guide to Santiago. I think that wold be another cool option!

Momo’s bio

img_5098Hi everyone, my name is Moyan Chen. You can call me Momo which might be easier for you guys to remember. I am a junior year Landscape Architecture student in Knowlton School of Architecture. I am from Beijing, China and this is my third year living in U.S. Overall I really like my life here since Columbus is a young and booming city in which I can explore a lot. People here are nice and friendly. School life in OSU is also challenging but interesting. In here I got to know many friends.  I have been traveled a lot places around world while this will be my first time officially studying abroad. I am looking forward to learn something exciting about Santiago, Chile. I am also passionate about many landscape architecture pieces which Aimee talked about during info session. I am a movie person and I watch a new movie nearly every week in theater. During movie times I can least temporarily get rid of real life stuff and enjoy the plots.  Recently I am really enjoying watching the movie La La Land. I think it is a great movie whichever considering as musical or drama.